Due to a couple last-minute cancellations, a few spots just opened up for PrimalCon Lake Tahoe (September 26-29). Now’s your chance to bask in the awesome radiance of wild nature while hanging out with your global Primal tribe! They won’t last long, so grab them ASAP!

Comment of the Week

Mark, you HAVE to give yourself comment of the week, even though it was in your article. “Execute a double decker…..” Brilliant.

– Thanks, Josh. Let me also use this opportunity to clarify my terminology. While an upper decker involves the toilet tank, a double decker involves both the tank and the bowl – so as to throw your victim off the scent of the tank.

Related Posts...

You want comments? We got comments:

Imagine you’re George Clooney. Take a moment to admire your grooming and wit. Okay, now imagine someone walks up to you and asks, “What’s your name?” You say, “I’m George Clooney.” Or maybe you say, “I’m the Clooninator!” You don’t say “I’m George of George Clooney Sells Movies Blog” and you certainly don’t say, “I’m Clooney Weight Loss Plan”. So while spam is technically meat, it ain’t anywhere near Primal. Please nickname yourself something your friends would call you.

Know what’s even better than reading great literature? Reading great literature TO another human. Spend some time reading a book to a child, a blind person, or someone who can’t read, you’ll never regret it. It’s a great way to “Use Your Brain”. See Mark, no need to add it to the Primal Laws, it was there the whole time.

I’m never baffled by the politics of food. It’s a given that’s going to be crazy.

What I can’t wrap my head around, though, is the economics.

How could it possibly be cheaper to send live chickens over the Pacific ocean, slaughter and process them, and then send them back? Especially if they are up to the same standards as the US? And it’s only a truck drive away to processing plant stateside? It doesn’t make any sense.

Reading between the lines of the article, it looks like China banned beef imports when we banned Chinese chicken. The article states that this might be a first step in lifting the ban on Chinese chicken and/or a way to give the Chinese a reason to life the beef ban.

I do somewhat understand the economics of imported food, just not the whole chicken processing thing.

First, certain places on the planet are better at growing certain foods than others. You get an economy of scale in those places/with that food stuff that overcomes the cost of shipping.

Thus cheap soy and corn from Iowa. Beef would be cheaper in places that naturally supports grassland without irrigation (New Zealand, I presume). As a semi-arid place, with cheap water, CA is better growing the fruits/nuts/etc rather than trying to muster enough water to grow acres of grass.

The second issue is that of national tariffs and subsidies. For instance, China has become a world manufacturing center in part because it subsidies it by the yen peg. (They do pay a real price for not letting the yen float because it makes them sensitive to our inflation, etc.) China also does not have the same labor laws, taxes, or social safety nets which drive up stateside cost.

Between the social setup and the yen the cost difference become so great that the shipping is negligible. Thus Chinese goods produced cheaper than down the road. Those same economic principles apply to food. If a country subsidies a certain food and/or has lower labor costs it will easily overcome the shipping issue to make it cheaper than local food.

The labor costs/social standards issue is why I tend to be very skeptical of cheap “organic” food coming in from outside the US. If we’re not on top of inspections here, what’s to stop people in other countries from slapping an organic label on conventional food and reaping a huge profit margin. Ironically, I tend to trust the label a bit more when there’s a reasonable gap between organic and conventional.

If white people really are more Neanderthal than other ethnicities, then perhaps the lack of intense sociality is part of what drives us to be fine with hiking and camping. I know many people who are so intensely social that the idea of being or feeling alone is a threat.

Time and money are major factors for any leisure activity. We tend to be historically myopic and forget that wealth has slowly spread to all ethnicities in the US. The author missed the legal issues, too. Not sure if there were many colored-only parks 50 years ago. That means grandparents didn’t take your parents or you for fear of more than just bears.

The white people hiking thing reminds me of a post on a hiking forum a while back where a white person living temporarily in Africa decided he wanted to hike up a local mountain. The locals thought he was a little daft, but decided to make a day of it, dressed up in their best clothes, and went with him. They had a good time even though they weren’t dressed for it.

I think part of it is that white people grow up in a culture steeped in Rousseau’s idolization of nature. I suspect in many places in the world, the bush is that buggy swampy place that needs to be avoided, not conquered or worshipped. And let’s face it, a lot of it is really buggy. And boggy. Or dangerously hot and dry. But we’re conditioned to find it beautiful.

Guilty as charged on the camping. I grew up going camping 60+ days a year and still camp and fish and backpack as often as I can. My parents grew up dirt poor(no plumbing in the house poor) but their favorite thing to do was camp from when I was a kid up until the time my mom passed away. I just enjoy the peace and quiet and seeing the wildlife, plants and scenery. I do live in the Pacific Northwest where we have wonderful outdoor opportunities from ocean kayaking and island hopping to backpacking, snowshoeing and skiing. I live 1/4 mile from the local river and salmon fishing

I disagree that white people like camping more than other ethnicities. Where I live the national forest campgrounds and day use areas are mostly full of Latinos enjoying barbecues and long weekends in huge family gatherings. I lead hikes for the Sierra Club and while most of the attendees are local white people (most people in our city are white), a significant quantity of the attendees come from India, China, Japan and European countries. It seems hiking is very popular in India and Japan and I have even been quoted in a Japanese handbook on hiking.

I agree with your comment and have noticed the same thing in my area. I personally know a number of Hispanic persons who love to camp, hike, and fish, and I’ve seen quite a few Asians and Americans of Asian extraction in the national parks. Actually, I found the referenced article to be mildly if unintentionally offensive in its assumptions and generalizations regarding “whites” versus other colors.

I read Mark’s blog every day and really don’t understand what you are driving at. There are some people who have viewpoints that differ from yours, so you are recommending censorship? I admire Mark for allowing dissenting opinions, and aside from really over-the-top insults and name-calling that might require moderation / deletion, it tends to be self-policing as more reasonable folks tend to respond to and call out (usually in a polite way) the really “out there” posts. There is always the option to read the articles and skip the comments, although I’m sure you have some good advice and viewpoints to share.

OK, you’re talking about the forums. Yeah, the Ray Peat guy and the obscenity-laced posts are bad. The all sugar diet thing perhaps is tongue-in-cheek and someone is attempting to, and failing miserably at, be clever. I’m thinking dropping the F bomb in posts is something I’d block using moderation settings, and maybe let it pass after reviewing considering the context.

The advice about saving your knees while walking up or downhill is just what I needed! I got back from a backpacking trip that had a lot of downhill work the second day, and my knee started complaining- which is highly unusual for me. Great info!

Screaming, groaning, and growling can increase pain tolerance. So can flexing or tensing especially if you include your face and taking a deep breath or holding your breath or hiss-breathing (really depends on circumstance).
I save my knees by using momentum and flexibility. Sometimes I bob. The body is a unit.
A few things that work for skin infections: urine (I’m guessing the ammonia), hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, salt water (saline solution).
I get cheap processed canned meat from the local food bank sometimes and it kind of tastes like shit. On the other hand, I’ve been eating crayfish raw lately and they taste good. The legs, antennae, and meat are chewable, as are the shells of some of the young small prawns.

The Primal Blueprint Podcast

Interviews with Mark Sisson and other health experts. Audio versions of select Mark’s Daily Apple posts each week. “Best of MDA” recordings. Fresh, lively content to help you stay at the cutting edge of Primal living!